


It Can't Get Any Worse

by LittleSweetCheeks



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Crack, Fluff, Gen, bad day, friends - Freeform, team fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 00:51:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12377562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: “I don’t think it can get any worse that being stuck on a cramped plane. We’ll survive.”





	It Can't Get Any Worse

**Author's Note:**

> Total Crack based on a prompt that was on the NaNo Facebook page.

As Garcia flipped through the final pictures of dead women in rural Idaho, Aaron stood and sighed. “I need everyone to pack a standard suitcase plus only a small bag for your files and things. Due to budget cuts, we have to travel commercial for our case.”

“Oh, that sucks.” Emily rolled her eyes. “I hate having to get firearms through TSA.”

“Yes, well, it sounds like we’ll be getting a bit of practice this year doing so. We are each permitted one checked bag and a briefcase or other bag for carrying on. Make sure you take proper measures about your firearm ID’s and make sure everything has its proper locks on it.” He collected his things and left the room, leaving the others to grumble about the flight. Stepping into his office, Aaron started to collect the things he would need before having to leave.

“Do you think the Bureau would care if I paid to bump us to first class?”

Hotch looked up to see Dave strolling into the room. “Probably. It wouldn’t look very good for government employees to be traveling first in any case. Not to mention I doubt you could get seven first class tickets in the same flight.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean everyone. Just you and I.” He grinned when his friend chuckled. “Ah, well. I suppose slumming it every once in a while isn’t so bad.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still going to fight for us to get exclusive use of our jet back as soon as we get back.” Hotch finished checking his things. “I don’t think it can get any worse that being stuck on a cramped plane. We’ll survive.”

==

The team had moved slowly through the airport. Checking their bags, and weapons, had taken longer than was really necessary. The pair behind the desk had been new and the paperwork that declared them federal agents and allowed to travel with their weapons had flustered them.

Getting through security had them all grumbling as they were forced to remove belts, shoes, and everything small. Poor Garcia had had to carefully remove several electronic devices tucked in her dress, flaming red as she did. “I’ll make them give us our jet back.” She grumbled under her breath.

“Just let them do their jobs.” Hotch had softly answered, calm in the face of their slow progress through. Calm, that is, until he was pulled aside as given an additional pat down when the random swipes along the handle of his briefcase and then his hands sent up flags, likely from gunpowder. He gave security a toothy, fake smile as they wanted to double check his credentials for wearing his back-up gun onboard.

As they finally walked to the gate, Morgan nudged his shoulder. “They were just doing their jobs.”

==

It took Dave twenty minutes of serious flirting with the ladies manning the counter at the gate but he managed to get the team permission to board ahead of the general masses. It would mean a longer wait time on the plane, but he’d take it if it meant not having to elbow his way through a narrow, crowded aisle to find his seat.

As he followed the others later down the empty aisle, he spoke up again. “Get comfortable, the ladies said it was a packed flight and will take longer to load up.”

Aaron found their seats first and stopped, frowning. “Great.” They were right over the wing, a row back from the exit row. Pushing his bag into the overhead bin, he slid into his window seat, not that it did him any good. All he could see was the wing. Sitting down, he attempted to find a comfortable position, pulling his legs up so his knees were against the tray table. He tried to give a reassuring smile when Garcia squeezed into the seat beside him.

Across the aisle and up two rows, JJ and Reid were getting comfortable along with Morgan. All of them were trying to find nonexistent legroom while not take up any of anyone else’s. Craning his neck, Hotch could see Rossi and Prentiss getting adjusted two rows back.

They were far too split up to carry on a conversation with anyone but their own seatmates. Deciding that wasn’t so bad, Hotch settled back and turned to Garcia, expecting to see her with her laptop already out and booting up, he was surprised to instead see her looking upset. “What’s wrong?”

Garcia shook her head. “I hate flying commercial.” Her voice was low. She started to say something else, but other people started boarding the plane and she stopped talking.

He waited until the plane had been pushed back and they were on the runway, engines starting up, before he leaned over and asked. “Why? You seem to enjoy flying in the jet.”

She let out a choked sound. “Well, yeah. The seats are bigger.”

He tipped his head in question.

Realizing her boss was really going to be dense about it, she gestured to the armrest between them. “It’s not comfortable having the armrest down because I hang into the next seat.”

Nodding, he lifted up the armrest and pushed it out of the way. “Better?”

She sniffled. “It doesn’t really change anything.”

He shrugged. “I’m not seeing any problem. Well, except maybe one.”

“What?” She eyed him.

“Well, we have five hours to kill and you don’t seem anything out for us to watch a movie or two on.” He tried to give her his best pout.

Garcia chuckled and dug out her laptop, handing him several movies to select from before plugging in earbuds and handing him one. Getting comfortable, she was surprised when he tucked the bud into his good left ear and then practically rested his head on her shoulder.

==

Their layover had been quick and just a few hours later, the team was standing near an empty baggage carousel waiting as JJ walked toward them. “They called and checked.” She spoke once she got close enough. “Our bags are in Arizona, they didn’t make the layover. The man I spoke to assured me that they are properly secured and will be on the next flight up and will be then drive to us.”

“And when is the next flight?” Rossi asked.

“It lands here tomorrow at noon.”

“So, the only person with a gun until then is Hotch.” He worked his jaw. “We have the files I guess, but no guns, no cuffs, no vests, no clothes.”

“Yeah.” JJ shrugged. “I couldn’t get it here any faster.”

Hotch finally spoke up. “Well, let’s go pick up a couple cars and get on the road. We still have a bit of a drive before we get to town. We’ll check in at the station and catch up on anything that has happened while we were in the air.” He waited for everyone to nod before leading them out to the small rental car area as he thought to himself, _it’s not like it can get any worse_.

==

Morgan was grumbling in the back, smashed between Emily and JJ, who were giggling at his discomfort. They had been late getting in as far as the rental company was concerned and the only vehicles left to choose from were compact cars, and Hotch had taken one look at what had amounted to little more than large roller skates and had promptly squelched that idea, and a minivan. When Morgan had begun his grumbling at the outset of their drive, Hotch had assured him it would be a short drive, surely their luck had to turn around now.

So, the whole team was shoved into a minivan to make the long drive made even longer by the icy torrent of rain that had gotten even harder. Hotch was at the wheel, he’d held tight to the keys when Rossi then Morgan, and then JJ, had all tried to swipe them. Dave was beside him and Reid and Garcia were in the captain’s seats behind them. He was looking forward to getting to the hotel, even if he had no extra clothes. He was just ready for bed.

==

The icy rain hadn’t eased by the time they pulled up to the station and parked. Hotch and Rossi both leaned forward and stared up at the beautiful, new state of the art building through the windshield. Whoever had designed it and the lot had made use of the vast amount of space available, therefore the station had a massive sprawling lawn and numerous large flower beds between the two. Beautiful, perhaps, on a clear blue day or even coated in powdery snow, but the team was going to have to run through inclement weather to get to the door. There wasn’t any sort of way to achieve that while maintaining an air of professionalism.

“Well, looks like we run.” Dave finally spoke up.

“Yeah.” Emily agreed from the back. “All together?”

“As together as we can.” Hotch answered.

“You know.” Reid started as the other doors flung open and agents piled out as fast as they could, Morgan toppling Reid onto the wet pavement as he did. “Hey!”

“Come on, Kid!” Morgan didn’t stop but took off at a run, following JJ and the two older men up the sidewalk.

Bringing up the rear of the group, Spencer huffed as he finally managed to get under the awning. “I was saying. For as bad as the weather is, there is no scientific benefit to running versus walking.” He panted.

“I may be just as wet, but the misery is over faster.” Rossi grunted out, pulling the door open. “Shall we?”

==

Hotch led the way through the station until he found the chief and then turned to introduce his team. The chief quickly told them no knew bodies had turned up and offered them a conference room and directions to the only motel in town two blocks away.

“I’m sorry, it’s our only place and we have girls who work and such out of there. About once a week we do raids of the whole building but new working girls and junkies seem to move in once we drag away the old ones.”

Nodding his thanks, Hotch turned back to the team, checking his watch. “We can review and then head to get some sleep?”

“Sure.” Everyone agreed.

==

The motel was about as bad as the chief had led them to believe. Freshly drenched from having ran back to the van and then schlepping into the tiny motel office, the team listened as the questionable man on the other side of a pane of glass droned on that it was a cash-only establishment. No credit cards accepted.

Frowning, everyone started pulling out their wallets, passing Hotch what cash they had until he sighed. “Two rooms for one night for now. We can hit up and ATM tomorrow and get more.” He passed the cash through the slot. “Together?” He gave the man his best hard stare.

The man didn’t seem to notice or be phased by the glare as he passed two keys back. “Second floor on the back. You can park at the end and take the sidewalk to the back stairwell.”

Following the rest of the team back outside, Hotch squinted down the building in the darkness. He tossed Rossi the keys. “You move the van? At this point I’ll just walk long here.” He gestured to the half drive sidewalk.

==

The four men stood in a row staring at the two double beds in the room. “Well, I’m taking a shower.” Dave peeled off his jacket, dropping it on the counter by the sink with a wet plop. “I might leave you some hot water!” He called out as he pushed the door shut with a thump.

Reid worked on removing as much as he dared, sweater joining Rossi’s jacket as he stripped to his damp undershirt and boxers. Turning around, he saw that Hotch and Morgan had done the same though Hotch was taking the time to hang all of his clothes up. A banging on the door joining their room to the next startled him and Reid moved to open it before the others could react.

Emily, Garcia, and JJ tumbled into the room. “Our AC won’t turn off!”

“It’s so cold!” Garcia shrieked, rubbing her arms.

Morgan grinned. “Well, come on in here, I’ll warm you up.”

The trio shook their heads at him before they hurriedly shed what they could and stood of the room’s heater. “There’s no way we can sleep in there!” Emily shared. “We’ll just have to all bunk in here.”

“You need to get out of those wet clothes.” Reid informed casually. “You won’t be able to increase your core temperature while you’re still wet like that.”

Shooting Morgan a quick dirty look, they began to shed everything they could afford to in an attempt to get dry and warm. A choked cough from the small outer bathroom area made everyone turn.

Hotch stood in only his boxers, frozen in place as the women had started to strip to bras and underwear in the middle of the room. He had no idea where to look. He couldn’t look _at_ them, wearing practically nothing, and now he couldn’t look at their faces either, too embarrassed by having accidentally watched them undress. He opted for staring firmly at the unpleasantly colored carpet. “Maybe we can get some more towels? I’ll, um, I’ll get some out of here.” He pushed the door open just as Dave was stepping out of the shower, casually reaching for a towel of his own. “We have a full house it seems; the other room’s AC wouldn’t turn off.” Hotch shared with his friend.

“Where will everyone sleep?”

“I don’t know.” Aaron grabbed some of the remaining towels, leaving himself one, and headed out to pass them out.

“Morgan went to get the towels and everything from our room. We paid for it, might as well use the stuff.” JJ told the top of her boss’s head.

==

Hotch couldn’t sleep. He was on the floor, laying on bedding Morgan had also dragged from next door, between the two beds. JJ and Spencer were asleep in one, Garcia and Prentiss in the other. Somewhere at the foot of each bed were Morgan and Rossi. Rolling over, he tried to get comfortable about the same time Reid rolled over as well, one arm flopping over the side of the bed and hitting him in the head. Grumbling, he shifted further toward the other bed incase his youngest agent, a well-known active sleeper, flailed again.

After tossing and turning for two hours, Hotch finally crawled up and carefully headed into the next room and then into the bathroom so as to not wake everyone else with the light. He had to dance on the tiles, they had been right, it was cold in there. Once finished, he glanced out the window at the steady heavy rain and sighed. He was trapped, wide awake but with nowhere to go and nothing to do. He didn’t want to wake the others with his restlessness so he stayed in the frigid room, watching the weather.

With a sigh, he thought to himself that at least it couldn’t get worse. And then the power went out.


End file.
